Palasan

The legal system does not exist in the ivory tower of laws, and the hooded men that interpret them. The system is within the bigger socio-political realities. Fact is, Maria Ressa has been vocal against the administration. President Duterte does not conceal her contempt for Rappler. The Secretary of Justice is the alter-ego of the president. The president cannot wash hands for the action of the alter-ego. Bereft of legal niceties, the indictment against Maria Ressa sends a chilling effect on the Fourth Estate. The presidential message is clear: Don't be a critic or else.

Maria Ressa's case cannot be discussed in the context of purely legal technicalities. Lawyers, and their rigid interpretation of the laws, must go beyond the context of the legal system. The far greater reality, the meta-legal issue about the indictment of Maria Ressa must be read and interpreted in the bigger context of press freedom and its rule in the democratic society.